OK all you France experts, please help! I am confused. I have just tried to figure things out and did a search on this and Trip Advisor boards. I am still unclear. I need to book train travel to get to CDG airport. I will be in Chinon. I found I can take a train from Chinon to Tours and then a train from a station in Tours - I think it's referred to as St Pierre des Corps. I am confused if this is the same station I will arrive at on my train from Chinon to Tours??? Or will I be at one station when I arrive in Tours from Chinon and then need to get to the station at St Pierre des Corps to get my train to CDG? If so, what is the best way between stations? Another train? A taxi? Thank you!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
Well, if it helps, I know for a fact that there are two train stations in Tours. The main (old) one is the Gare de Tours, and the other one is Sait-Pierre-des-Corps. So you may indeed have to transfer. The stations are about 2 miles apart. I am sure there are folks who are experts on the train who can give you more precise info, but the short answer is that there are 2 stations.
Posted by
OP
Laguna Beach, CA, USA
272 posts
thanks for the quick reply Kira! that helps alleviate my confusion!! now hopefully someone can post suggestions for best way between the two stations. i would think there would be taxis at the Tours station and i could grab one of those to get to St Pierre des Corps. But i just don't want to "assume" then be left stressed out at one station, not knowing how to get to the other and worrying about my flight at CDG!! THANKS!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
The best site for detailed timetables for virtually all of Europe is the German Rail site. What is your travel date? What time does your plane leave CDG?
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
The station in Tours is a dead end on a branch from the main line at St Pierre des Corps. Your train from Chinon will probably stop there. If it doesn't, I think there are shuttle trains from Tours timed to coincide with long-distance TGVs.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7358 posts
Maybe you've read Rick's suggestion about entering your home country as, say, Belgium on the SNCF website, so that you stay at SNCF without being pirate-shipped over to RailEurope. Anyway, if you then enter a request for information on a trip from Chinon to TGV-CDG, you should see a whole itinerary. When I do this, I see a 5 or 6 minute train from Tours to St. Pierre des Corps. And I see little time wasted in the layover. Incidentally, almost every time I enter St. Pierre des Corps in an internet box, the site adds for me "4 km de Tours" as a tagline to the "name" of the station!
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Sorry, I got that wrong. I was getting mixed up with Orleans.
Posted by
OP
Laguna Beach, CA, USA
272 posts
thanks for all the comments. my travel date is august 30. flight time is 2:50pm
will check that German rail link. thanks
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
You can take the train all the way. Leave Chinon at 07:42, connect in Tours and St-Pierre-des-Corps, and arrive at CDG at 10:45. Chinon to Tours and Tours to St-Pierre-des-Corps will be on regional trains. There is open seating and no reservations are possible. Buy your tickets in Chinon. Book St-Pierre-des-Corps to CDG NOW at tgv-europe.com to get the lowest fare that still is available. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the US Rail Europe site, choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Then choose to stay with tgv-europe rather than going to the UK Rail Europe site. Choose France as your ticket retrieval country. You should be able to print your own ticket.